Improvement in spring motive-powers



J. B. HOWELL.

Improvement 111 Spring Motive-Power.

No. 131,614. Patented Sep.24,1872.

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PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN B. HOWELL, or WILKESBARBE, PENNSYLVANIA.

IMPROVEMENT IN SPRING MOTIVE-POWERS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 131,614, datedSeptember 24, 1872.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, J oHN BEATTY HOWELL, of Wilkesbarre, in thecounty ofLuzerne and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and ImprovedSpring Motive-Power, of which the following is a specification:

My invention consists of a series of coiled springs and cases or drumstherefor, arranged side by side on a shaft, and combined together andwith the winding-up mechanism and transmitting mechanism in such manneras to constitute in effect one spring of great length but in separatecoils, which gives much better results in. practice than a single springof the same length in a single coil will.

Figure l is partly a front elevation andpa-rt- 1y a sectional elevationof my improved power apparatus, and Fig. 2 is a side elevation.

Similar letters of reference indicate correspondin g parts.

The first spring, A, is attached at the inner end of the coil to thewinding-up shaft B, which also serves for mounting the springdrums orcases and the transmitting-wheel 0- At the outer end of said coil thisspring A is attached to the hollow drum or case D mounted loosely on theshaft. This drum has a central hub, E, extending along the shaft B within the second drum F, and the spring G in said drum is attached to saidhub at its inner end, the outer end being attached to the drum F. Thisdrum F also has a hub, H, extending into drum I, and the spring Ktherein is attached to it and to the drum as the others are. Thisarrangement may be extended with as many springs and drums as required,but in this ex ample the drum I is'attached to the transmitting-wheel 0.All the springs will be wound up by the crank L one after another,beginning with the first one, A, and they will all act together in likemanner in transmitting the power, beginning with K. A friction-brake ofany approved kind will be used in eonnection with any of thetransmitting-Wheels for controlling the speed of the parts set in motionby the springs. This arrangement is believed to be better than onespring as long as the aggregate length of the series here used, becausein practice coiled springs are found not to work well, if so long as torequire to be coiled many times round to get the tension and the fullsweep.

Having thus described myinvention, I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent A spring motive-power, consisting of the series ofdrums D F I, hubs E H, and a series of springs, A G K, combined andarranged I with shaft B, as described, so that each spring will be woundup by the said shaft B,-and caused to give out its tension successively.

JOHN BEATTY HOWELL.

Witnesses:

V. G. CAMPBELL, JOHN P. IJAMS.

